Daily Archive

After watching the inauguration at Trinity Church, I walked with a friend along the River. Gelberman, an 85′ debris collection vessel operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers, crunched her way along an ice flow near North Cove. Now a question: anyone know where “Mereczowszczyzna” is and how it relates to this post? (I cannot pronounce the mystery location.)

Gelberman chronological vitals: built at Dravo SteelShip in Arkansas in 1980. Later, that shipyard, now closed, was purchased by J. B. Hunt. ?!?! The stuff on the internet boggles my mind. Below is Gelberman southbound in the Arthur Kill last Friday, the day I took the other snowy fotos.

March 2008 I caught Gelberman in dry dock, getting a new

wheel. Who was Gelberman? Answer below.

He was Chief of the Operations Division of the US Army Corps of Engineers, NY District, a civil engineer, a graduate of Vanderbilt University. Deceased 1973.

Thanks to Lemming for identifying a foto from almost a year ago as USACE survey vessel Dobrin; a search for more info on Dobrin led me to this USACE design center site.

Oh, Mereczowszczyzna is the birthplace of Tadeusz Kościuszko, honored by statues and place names in West Point and many other places, arguably founder of the US Army Corps of Engineers.